Foreign media are covering Korea’s mandatory military service while reporting on BTS member Jin reporting for duty with the Republic of Korea Army.
In a Dec. 12 article headlined “BTS’s Jin enlists: What to know about S. Korea’s mandatory military service,” The Washington Post said, “All able-bodied South Korean men are required to enlist in the military by age 28,” adding that Jin will start serving on Dec. 13 at a facility for new recruits in Yeoncheon-gun County, Gyeonggi-do Province.
The American daily showed a photo of Jin with a new haircut he uploaded on Dec. 11 on a social media channel of his fan community before reporting for duty.
A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense was quoted as saying, “Jin is expected to serve in the army — which is, coincidentally, the name of BTS’s fan base — until around June 12, 2024, as long as he completes his service on schedule.”
“Those who are required to serve in the military must do so for at least 18 months, although the length of service can vary by branch.” the article added. “Conscripts serve for 18 months in the army and the marines, 20 months in the navy, and 21 months in the air force.”
“The first few weeks of service are usually spent at a basic training camp before soldiers are moved to the roles in which they will finish the rest of their enlistment.”
The Post said “some South Korean men have said that mandatory conscription puts them at an economic disadvantage compared with their female counterparts, whose education and careers don’t experience an 18-month interruption.”
It also quoted the Korean daily Hankyoreh as saying, “In an October editorial, the paper said the waivers that favor classical artists over pop stars are ‘invalid and unconvincing.'”
On the same day, the Hong Kong-based South Morning China Post also ran an article on Jin’s service headlined “Jin of BTS is to begin military service in South Korea – where will the K-pop star go and what will he do?”
“The K-pop star is likely to be one of the oldest recruits, and all eyes will be on which unit he will join for the rest of his military service,” it said. “These days stars normally apply to join military band units, whose singers, performers and sound engineers stage events for fellow members of the armed forces.”
“Hybe, the entertainment company behind BTS, has said it is difficult to say when the seven members – who must all complete their military service – will reunite, but hopes it will be in 2025.”
Born in 1992, Jin is the oldest member of BTS. Under a 2020 amendment to the military conscription law, he received a recommendation to postpone getting drafted from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to the end of this year.
In the process, a political controversy erupted over whether BTS members could get exempt from military service.
Because Jin expressed his intent to serve, he rescinded his deferral and decided to start his service within this year.
Source: Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism